City considers helicopter deal

Fire Department would contract with private company

A helicopter to provide emergency air ambulance service would be based in Oceanside under a deal being negotiated between the Oceanside Fire Department and a Santa Rosa company.

“We are working with Reach Air Medical Service in establishing a base using a public-private partnership here in Oceanside,” Fire Chief Daryl Hebert said in an interview last week. “I see it as a great opportunity.

Mayor Jim Wood said he is “very supportive” of the plan.

“It will be an improvement, certainly for the public safety aspect and recovery,” Wood said. With the city and county growing, Wood said the area could well use the service.

Under the tentative deal as outlined by Hebert, Reach Air would lease space from the city and build a helipad at the Fire Department’s training center at 110 Jones Road near the Oceanside airport.

Reach Air would provide the helicopter, a pilot and a flight nurse, Hebert said. A city paramedic also would be assigned to the helicopter with Reach Air paying for the medic.

“We’re not going out and buying a helicopter or anything like that. This is a win-win,” Hebert said. “It’s not going to cost us anything. There’s no cost to the city at all.”

Reach Air provides emergency helicopter service in California, Oregon and Texas, said Don Warton, the company’s director of business development.

Although the helicopter would be based in Oceanside, Warton said it would be available for emergency calls throughout North County.

“We think we can augment and bring some additional services and availability to the north end of San Diego County,” Warton said. “We think there’s a demonstrated need for us there.”

The company makes its money by billing insurance companies for patients it transports, Warton said with no charge and no subsidy from the cities it serves.

“We assume 100 percent of the risk,” Warton said.

The Oceanside Fire Department now relies on Mercy Air Service for emergency helicopter service, Hebert said. He said on average the department calls on an air ambulance 17 to 20 times a month to transport people with serious traumatic injuries to Palomar Medical Center or Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego.

Hebert said he has no complaints about Mercy Air, but that the Reach Air helicopter would be available for city use in a variety of circumstances besides emergency medical service.

“That’s the uniqueness we don’t have right now with Mercy Air,” Hebert said.

He said the Reach Air helicopter could be used for search and rescue missions and as a spotter during wildfires.

“It would allow us to have a command platform for use if we had a lost child on the beach or a missing person or a brush fire,” Hebert said.

Details of the proposal are still being negotiated, Hebert said, but he said his goal is to bring a final plan to the City Council in May for approval.